Lifting apparatus



June 4, 1968 G. L.. REGNIER LIFTING APPARATUS Filed Deo. 14, 1966 Nm 5%Tw.

United States Patent O 3,386,595 LIFTING APPARATUS Gaston Louis Regnier,Montmorency, Seine-et-(lise,

France, assignor to Richier, Paris, France, a cornpany of France FiledDec. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 601,590 Claims priority, application France,Jan. 3, 1966, 46,780, Patent 1,469,647 1 Claim. (Cl. 212-71) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE For lifting and positioning prefabricated floor slabsinto prepared grooves in the walls of a building construction, amonorail track is supported by a beam of greater length than thebuilding and divided into a iirst section of triangulated framing insidewhich the prime mover is located, a second section supporting themonorail from suspending rods, and a third section projecting from thebuilding and of jib shape including the monorail as a part of the jib. Acarriage and hoist traveling on the monorail is moved and powered by theprime mover.

The present invention relates to a lifting apparatus which is moreparticularly adapted to be used in the construction of multi-storybuildings, wherein the walls are erected previous to the setting of theflooring. This is done, for instance, in the building erected by themethod described in the French Patent No. 1,249,542 of Nov. 20, 1959,according to which walls are erected by means of sliding forms andcontinuous concreting, said walls being provided at every story levelwith horizontal grooves enabling thin prefabricated slabs to beslidingly xed therein, the flooring being subsequently laid on saidslabs.

In carrying said method into practice, one of the problems lies in thepositioning of said thin prefabricated slabs, which positioning requirespicking up the slabs outside the building being erected, lifting them tothe height required and introducing them into said building.

To solve said problem, it has been suggested to use a monorail fixedunder the cross girders of the sliding forms, which monorail protrudesunsupported from the building and consists of an I-shape on which apulley block travels. Said pulley block, which is most oftenelectrically controlled, is sent to the end of the rail, outside thebuilding, and fetches the load lying on the ground, which load is thenlifted and brought inside the construction by causing the pulley blockto travel on its rail.

This arrangement, however, has a drawback in that the dead weight of thepulley block is added to the weight of the load, whereby the weights orthe loads to be handled are limited. As a matter of fact, the weight ofa pulley block having the lifting capacity required for ordinary loadsand the span required for serving high buildings ranges from 690 to 800kg.; since in the present state of sliding frame techniques theallowable overloads are about 1500 kg., the available useful load rangesfrom 600 to 700 kg. Furthermore, when the pulley block and the load areat the unsupported end of the monorail, the rocking action tending tolift the wroking platform is increased by the two loads adding to eachother, and it is then necessary to overload uselessly said platform tocounterbalance said action.

For great lifting heights, as, for instance, in tower buildings, theknown electrically driven pulley blocks cannot provide the requiredlifting speeds and cable winding capacities, unless their weights andspaces occupied are increased substantially.

Lastly, such plants have a drawback in that they require as runningrails heavy shapes which are diliicult to 3,386,595 Patented June 4,1968 ICC handle, can be lengthened or shortened only by means of fishplates lacking rigidity, and require a horizontal triangulation in theirunsupported portions owing to the elasticity of the shapes in thisdirection.

The invention obviates the drawbacks mentioned hereinabove by providingan apparatus which allows solving advantageously the problems of liftingand positioning the prefabricated slabs in the buildings erected by themethod mentioned hereinabove, while being, of course, adapted to be usedin any other applications.

The apparatus of the invention includes a monorail track constituted bya beam the length of which is greater than that of the structure, sothat one of its ends protrudes unsupported outside said structure. Saidbeam is used as a track for a lifting carriage of the type used in jibcranes and includes three areas, to wit: a first area where the monorailis hung on the girders of the sliding forms by means of a triangulatedframing inside which the gears for moving the carriage and lifting theload are housed; a second area where said monorail is hung on theabove-mentioned girders merely by means of suspending rods; and a thirdarea protruding unsupported outside the structure, wherein the monorailis carried by and is an integrant part of a jib-shaped frame.

Thus the lifting apparatus according to the invention comprises threesections differently designed, each of which is adapted to its function,namely, a section designed for the gears and grouping the Winches,motors and electric equipment, the central section designed only for thesuspension of the rail on the cross girders of the sliding forms so asto distribute suitably the loads thereon, and the end section designedwith a view to obtaining a suitable overhanging.

With respect to the known apparatus, the apparatus of the inventionprovides the following main advantages:

Since the beam is similar to a crane jib, it is possible to use standardcommercial elements, such as, for instance, travelling carriage, liftingand traversing Winches, remote control devices, safety devices, that is,members and devices identical with those commonly used in jib cranes.

In service, the useful load alone bears on the end of the unsupportedsection.

The length of the apparatus and of the unsupported section thereof canbe varied at will.

The dead weight of the lattice beam is lower than that of an I-shapehaving the same inertia.

The invention, together with its advantages and further features, willbe clearly understood from the following description, with reference tothe appended diagrammatic drawing which illustrates, by way ofnon-limiting example, an embodiment of the lifting apparatus of theinvention. In said drawings:

FIGURES 1 and 2 are views of same, in side elevation and in top planrespectively;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views of same, on lines 3-3 and 4-4of FIGURE l respectively.

2 indicates the Working platform resting on the girders 3 strutting thesliding forms, and 4 indicates the shape which is to be used as amonorail for a traversing and lifting carriage 5 of the type used in jibcranes, said shape 4 having a length such that one of its ends protrudesunsupported outside the structure under construction.

Said monorail may be divided into three areas, A, B, C, respectively,

In areas A, the monorail shape 4 is hung on the girders 3 by means of aframing made of triangulated members 6, the shape of which is arrangedfor housing and supporting the gears, such as lifting winch 7, gear 8for "roving the carriage, etc.

In area B, the monorail 4 is connected to the girders 3 by means oftriangular suspensions 9, and its length and E the number of membersconstituting said monorail may be varied according to the conditionsunder which the apparatus of the invention is to be used, namely, thesize of the building under construction, the spacing of the girders.

In area C, the monorail forms the lower edge of a lattice framing MB oftriangular cross-section and having the shape of a crane jib7 whichgives it both rigidity and lightness. A return pulley 12 for thehoisting cable 13 is disposed at the end of said framing.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the sole einbodiment thereofdescribed hereinabove and to the sole application thereof givenhereinabove by way of example. It covers, on the contrary, allmodifications thereof falling within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

1. A load lifting apparatus, in particular for lifting prefabricatedslabs to be positioned between two walls erected by means of continuousconcreting and sliding forms connected by cross girders, characterizedin that said girders support a monorail track the length of wrich isgreater than that of the structure under construction, so that one ofits ends protrudes unsupported outside said structure, said track beingused for moving a lifting carriage of the type used in jib cranes andincluding three sections, a first section where the monorail is hung onthe girders of the sliding forms by means of a triangulated framinghousing the shape of which is arranged to house and support gearscarried by said carriage for moving the carriage and lifting the load, asecond section where said monorail is hung on the above-mentionedgirders merely by means of suspending rods, and a third area protrudingunsupported outside said structure, wherein said monorail is carried byand is an integrant part of a jibshaped frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 355,884 1/1887 Murgatroyd 212-15-2,859,884 11/1958 Pearce 212-15 2,936,907 5/1960 Woodruff 212-15 EV ONC. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Examiner.

H. C. HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner.

